Yes, if you can believe it, they still claim that Australian society is liberal. Saudi Arabia and Dubai have art galleries where this sort of sculpture would be allowed, but not in 'multi-cultural' Australia. As Summit News recounts:
A sculpture of a man’s bare chest was banned from an art exhibit in Australia because the organizers feared nudity may offend people from other cultures and religions.
Sculptor Alan Goedecke, who describes the piece as “traditional” and “tame,” was told by organizers of the Melbourne event that the bust “has nipples on it, you can see what gender it is so therefore it’s banned.”
The owner of Collins Square, where the work would have been exhibited, said it was banned because, “More than 20,000 workers and families from a wide variety of cultures and religious beliefs visit Collins Square every day” and that “the association agreed to no nudity, no political statements, no racism.”
So multi-culturalism means banning anything that offends a single culture.
This is not liberalism, by the way. Liberalism, we have been told, involves tolerance of other cultures. Not bans. If someone is offended, that's the price to pay for living in a liberal society.
This is not liberalism, by the way. Liberalism, we have been told, involves tolerance of other cultures. Not bans. If someone is offended, that's the price to pay for living in a liberal society.
Imagine running a restaurant this way: Hindus don't approve of eating cows, so no hamburgers. Muslims don't approve of eating pork. Jainists don't agree with eating any form of animal, which means only a small selection of vegetables (and nothing involving pulling the plant up by the roots).
This, of course, is not 'enriching' a culture. When you cannot show a statute that is the epitome of western sculpture, you have LOST something in your culture.
One might argue that this is a smaller exhibit and that the state is not involved, but it indicates a change in the prevailing cultural attitudes.
One might argue that this is a smaller exhibit and that the state is not involved, but it indicates a change in the prevailing cultural attitudes.